Method of and apparatus for generating thermodynamic energy



Dec.

H. RICHARDSON ET AL METHOD oE AND APPARATUS Eon GENERATING THERMODYNAMIC ENERGY original Filed May s, 1921 2 Sheets-Sheet TIE- l actor/nu,

Dec. 4, 1928.

` H. RICHARDSON ET AL METHOD QF AND APPARATUS` RoR GENERATING THERMODYNAMIC ENERGY Original Filed May 3. 1921 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Cltto'zmay Patented Dec. 4, 1928.

AUNITED STATES 1,693,910. PATENT .oi-Fica HENRY" RICHARDSON AND ANTON HOLE,4 PASSAI, NEW JERSEY; SAID HOLM ASSIGNOR '1Y0` SAID RICHARDSON.

METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR GENERATING THERMODYNAMIC ENERGY.`

Application led-May 3, 1921, Serial No. 466,439. Renewed November 14, 1927.'

The present invention relates to improve-- ments in the art of generating thermo-dynamic energy and it is app-licable ino-re particularlyl to internal combustion engines of the conventional forms employing a cylinder and -cooperating p-iston, and especially` to such engines which operate on the two-cycle principle.

The p-rimary object of the invention is -to ing loss of unburned fuel and by providing a-fuller and more complete charge of explosive fuel for each explosion|` As applied to internal combustion engines of the usual types, the present invention insures substantially complete scavenging of the products of combustion remaining in the cylinder` from the p-receding explosion and the drawing in of a full fresh charge of explosive by the creation and maintenance of a. vacuum pressure at the exhaust outlet of the engine, such vacuum acting, at the end of each working vstroke of the piston, to not only draw the products of combustion from the cylinder, but also serving to first draw a -current of air into and throughl the cylinder,

. sweeping before it and into the exhaust outlet any remaining productsof combustion, and to subsequently draw affresh charge of fuel or tory to compression land the next following explosion. The invention may be applied with particular advantage', to-twocycle engines of the type having piston-controlled ports arranged in the side walls of the cylinder, as it insures substantially complete evacnation of the exhaust'gases and the scavenging of. any remainingexhaust gases and it -also insures the inductionof agfull charge of fresh-explosive mixture, and moreover, these ,j knownobjections. y,

results are attained without the necessity ofemploying 'crank-case compression or other or either constituent thereof exteriorly of the cylinder, in order to introduce such charge into the cylinder, as has heretofore been found necessary, but which presents wellpliere.

,the engine shown.

to t-he atmosphere is regulated or controlled so that a vacuum will be produced 'at' the exhaust outlet of the cylinder and any gases at the outlet end4 of the' condenser which reach a pressure above atmospheric pressure will be immediately discharged into) the atmos- By this method, the correct functioning of the engine with respect to the discharge of products of combustion, induction of air to scavenge the cylinder and the introduction of a fresh explosive charge can lbe attained with efiiciency and in a manner which is simple and does not require further attention after it has been properly regulated.`

The invention may be applied to or carried out by the aid of apparatus of different kinds,it being shown applied, in the accompanying drawings, to an internal combustion engine of the two-cycle type.

Figure 1 represents asection taken along the longitudinal axis of a two-cycle engine constructed to embody and to operate in accordance with lthe present invention;

Figure 2 is a detail enlarged `view showing the inlets for the scavenging air and the fuel mixture Figure 3 is a detail view of the escape valve Y which regulates or controls the escape ofthe condensed products of combustion from the outlet end of the condenser to the atmosphere,

, and the condenser.. explosive mixture into the cylinder, preparai,

Fig. 3a represents, on an enlarged scale, a section on the line a-, Fig. 1; and

Figures 4 to 7, inclusive, are diagrammatic views illustrating the cycle of operation of Similar parts are desi atedby the same reference characters 'in t e several figures.

The internal combustionengine shown in e the` presentinstance comprises a cylinder 1 which may be provided with the usual water jacketLkQ, a piston 3 which reciprocates in the cylinder, a crank shaft 4 provided with a iiywheel 45 and, as shown, a guide 6 is provided for the outer end of the piston' rod 7, ther latter being 'operatively connected to the .crank pin on the crank shaft, byl the connectin rod 8,. A spark plug 9, or equivalent ignition device, is provided for igniting e y' the-"- explosive charge i k.within .the cylinder,

. this sparlrplug or'ignition device being timed x by any suitable and well known arrangement to ignite a compressed explosive charge in -the cylinder each time the piston is about to commence its out stroke. The piston is preferably provided with a fin or baffle which projects a suitable distance toward the' cylinder head, and the purpose of this port 11 is formed in one side `'wall of the cylinder to be uncovered by the piston when the latter approaches the limit of its `out stroke, and the opposite side wall of the cylinder is formed with an air inlet port 12 and an adjacently located fuel inlet port 13, the air-inlet port 12 being located nearer to the cylinder head and so arranged relatively to the exhaust port that the air-inlet port will be uncovered shortly after the exhaust port has been uncovered, and the fuel-inlet port 13 is arranged to be uncovered by the piston after the latter has vmoved past the air-inlet port on its out stroke. 'lhe baille 10 on the head of the piston extends transversely of a `plane between the exhaust port 11 andthe air and fuel inlet ports 12 and 13, and. it is arranged to be interposed between these ports when the piston hasreached the points where it'uncovers the air and fuel ports 12and 13 respectively. The air-inlet port 12 may receive air from the atmosphere throtgh an air inlet 14 and the amount of airI intro uced into the cylinder through' the port` 12 may be regulated or governed by a suitable valve, the valve shown in the-present instance comprisin a blade or vane 15 which is pivoted at 16 an is provided with an operatingl arm or handle 17, wherebythe blade s or vane may be set to adjust 'the size of the passage through which air is supplied to the air inlet port l12. The fuel inlet ort 13 I 4communicates with a passage 18 and t is )assage is `connected to rece1ve sui-table uel,

, such,'for example, as one of the hydrocarbons commonly used as fuels in the operation of internal combustion engines, lor la `suitable combustibleor explosive gasM This passage 418 may be connected to receive either fuel .alone 'or it'rnay receive a combustible or explosive mixture of fuel and air, in which latter case 1t lwlll-be convementfto connect a carbureter to *suchv passage18. y L The Vexhaust port. 1l is connected to an apparatus which will receive the products of-v` combustion and will produce a vacuum at .the

lexhaust outlet ofthe engine, which vacuum -will function to withdraw` the products of combustion` resulting from, each explosion,

andto introduce' a fresh explosive charge `ber of tubes 2O of appropriate diameter and into the cylinder. In the engine shown, the vaceum will induce a flow of air through the cylinder from the air inlet 12, this current of air sweeping the remaining products of comhustion through the cylinder and out through the exhaust L11 and it will draw a supply or charge of fuel into the cylinder through the fuel inlet port 13, these operations taking plaee'in the order named during each revolution of the crank shaft and while the exhaust, air-intake and fuel-intake ports 11, 12 and 13 are uncovered by the piston. It will be understood that after these portsv have been closed by the return or in-stroke of the piston, the mixture of air and fuel contained in the cylinder will be compressed and when the piston reaches the limit of its in stroke or substantiallyl so, the spark plug or other ignition device will ignlte the compressed explosive charge and the pressure thus developed will drive.' the piston on its immediately following out-stroke, the pressure of the exploded gases continuing to drive the piston until the latter uncovers the exhaust port 11, whereupon the exhaust gases Will discharge from the cylinder, and air and fuel will be drawn successively into'the cylinder through the ports 12 and 13, as before. The baffle 10 on the piston serves to deflect the current of airintroduced into the cylin- 9' der through? the port 12, so that this current of air will swee around and through the combustion cham er at the head of the cylinder and thence out through the exhaust. port 11, thus scavenging the cylinder of substantially all products of combustion remaining .in the cylinder following the discharge of the bulk of these products ofv combustion, dueI to the opening of the exhaust port 11, and the vacuum pressure which acts to draw these products ofcombustion from the cylinder; and the'ballle 10 also functions to deflectv the fuel admitted through the port 13 toward the head of the cylinder, thus avoiding escape of fuel through the exhaust port 11.

The vacuum pressure which is created inv the exhaust discharge is attained by cooling the highly heated products of combustion, thus reducing theirV volume considerably below 'the volume of the fuel and air mixture mitting the condensed products of combus- `.tion while above atmospheric ressure, to escape tothe atmosphere un er conditions which insure the production of the vacuum andas shown, a condenser 19 is employed, this-condenser comprising a suitable numlength the ends ofthe tubes being fitted in' `headers 21. AThe header 20 at the inlet end ofthe condenser is attached to/a fitting 22 which rece'gives'the products of l combustion from theexhaust port 11.'. 'The' other header at the outlet end of the condenser is icon-Fm lus from which such gases resulted and by per- 2o pressure at theexhaust port 11.,/ Preferably y nected toa ,device 23l through which the prod-v ucts of combustion discharge or escape to the atmosphere. The .escape device 23 preferably comprises avalve which is soconstructed that it will open' when the pressure of the products of combustion exceed atmospheric pressure, to permit escape of such gases, but will quickly close when the pressure of the*I products of combustion in the condenser or evacuating chamber are at or below atmospheric pressure, thus insuring the maintenance, during this operation, of a vacuum pressure, at the exhaust port ,11; This valve is also` preferably adjustable, whereby the extent to which it opens may be regulated, thus enabling the degree of vacuum at the exhaust port- 11 to be governed to insure correct and eiicient functioning'of the engine. Preferably and as shown, the valve comprises -a tubular member 24 which may be connected by a plug 25 or otherwise to the header 21 on the outlet end of the lcondenser, this tubular body 24 being beveled on its outer end fto form a pair of valve seats 26, and a bar or cross-piece 27 extends across the apex pf the' tubular body A pair ofilap valves 28, which are preferably composed of spring steel or other suitable resilient material of appropriate thickness 'are arranged to cooperate with the seats 26, these valves, owing to their resilience, having a tendency to-normally form fluid-tight fits upon the seats'26 and thusprevent entrance of air from the atmosphereint'o the discharge vend of the condenser, but such valves will be easily and quickly forced from their seats when the products of combustion at the outlet end of the condenser reach a pressure slightly above atmospheric pressure, the valves, however, 'immediately closing when such gases have been permittedto escape to the atmospherer The valves 28 are shown secured to the .opposite sides of' the tubular body 24, by screws 2 9, the opposite ends of the valves, however, being free to vibrate, incident to the escape of the accumulated' condensed Iproducts of combustion.:

Means is provided for regulating the amplitude of movement of the valves 28 and to 4thus govern the degree of vacuum maintained atthe exhaust port 11. Preferably and as shown, a frame 30 is rigidly attached to the tubular body 24 of the valve and this frame ther manipulation.

'is provided with adjusting screws 31 which are located opposite to the respectivevalvesl 28 and these screws may beset to provide variable limit stops which will regulate the 'amplitude of movement ofthe valves'. These adjustin screws enable thedegree of vacuuin to @governed so asl-to insure `correct and efficient functioning of rthe engine, and when once adjusted, should requireno f ur- The'condenser is proportioned to the en'- gie with which it is used, in order to attain the action above described, by which vacuum pressure is maintained at the exhaust port 11,

and accumulatedcondensed products of combustion from the condenser are permitted to escape to the atmosphere without destroyingl sions given with a cylinder of the dimensions given, it was found that the desired vacuum was obtainedl without the necessity of subjecting the condenser exteriorly to a cooling medium, other than the exposure of the condenser tol the surrounding air at' ordinary temperature, and it was also found that unde r such conditions, the condensed productsl of combustion were discharged from the condenser at substantially the temperature ofthe surrounding air.

The cycle of `operation may be described briey in connection with Figures t to 7 inelusive, as follows: Figure 4C shows the piston approaching the limit of its power stroke, the piston being about to uncover the exhaust port 11n As soon as the exhaust port 11 is uncovered, the products of combustion will discharge through the exhaust port 11 and in so doing will be assisted by the vacuum pressure which is produced and maintained during these operations at the exhaust port. rJlhe continuedoutward movement of the piston brings ythe same into a position to uncover the air inlet port 12, as is shown in Figure 5, and owing to the vacuum pressure existing at the exhaust port 11, a current'of air will be drawn into the cylinder through the air port 12 and this current of air sweeping through the cylinder and its combustion chamber will`carry before it the remaining products of combustion. Further movement of the piston on its out stroke causes it to uncover the fuel port 13, as is shown in Figure 6, the vacuum maintained at this time in the-cylinder, due tothe vacuum pressure at Ithe exhaust 11 thereof,

this port 13. During the return stroke of the piston, the ports 13, 12 and 11 are `closed in the vorder named, the air and fuel contained in the cylinder, as represented 'in VFigure 7, being compressed during the in stroke of the -pistomand when the pistonreaches the limit of its in stroke, the compressed explosive charge is ignited by the spark plug or other ignition device and the piston is driven on its power lstroke until it reaches the position represented in Figure y 4, whereupon the cycle will be repeated, there being a power impulse for each revolution of the crank shaft.

' In order to obtain efficient operation of vthe engine atlow speed, the amount ofi air admitted through the port 12 may be regulated as by the blade 15 so that eflicient scavenging of the cylinder will be obtained, but a slight vacuum may exist in the cylinder after the exhaust port 11 is closed -and the compression stroke has commenced, the weight/of the explosive charge under such conditions being reduced to correspondrwith the .amount of power to be developed by the engine.

, The present invention provides a method of and y apparatus for vgenerating.'thermodynamic energy from lsuitable fuels whereby substantially complete withdrawal and scavenging of the products of combustion from the combustion`chamber, immediately following each explosion, without loss of fuel, and the introduction of a full fresh charge of fuel into the combustion chamber are effected through the influence of a vacuum which is created and maintained during'these operations at the outlet through which the products are discharged from the combustion chamber.

` A particularly advantageous feature of the cycle provided by the present invention is that the body of scavenging air precedes the fuel in entering lthe cylinder', land this body of scavenging air which is thus interposed between the exhaust port and the following and subsequently introduced body of fuel,pre vents substantially vthe'escape and'loss of they subsequently introduced fuel through the exhaust port. By this cycle of operations, high efficiency isattained by insuring the ihtroduction of a full and complete fresh Aexplosive charge for each explosion, back-pressure on the exhaust discharge of the combustion chamber is reduced and the combustion chamber is cooledinternally by the scavenging air which sweeps through it. These7advantages render the lnvention partlcularly applicable tol internal combustion engines of(l the so-call'ed twocyele type, as they not only cause an efficient explosion to be obtained at each revolution of ythe crank shaft, but they insure removal ofsubstantially all of the products of combustion resulting from each explosion and the introduction of a full and complete fresh explosive charge substantially without loss of fuel and also without the` complication and other disadvantages resulting from the use of crank-case compression "or'other forms of .external compression as heretofore found necessary, and moreover, the successlve or consecutive introductions of the scavenging air and fuel at definitelyltimed periods or intervals to secure substantiallycomplete removal ofthe products of` combustion and the introduction of a full fresh fuel charge, without appreciable loss fof' fuel by its escape through the exhaust outlet, under the inliuence of the vacuum existingtherein, can be accomplished easily and eliici'ently by arranging ports for the admission of vthe scavenging air -and fuel adjacently and in proper order in the side wall of the cylinder so asto be opened and closed in proper order, and atthe proper vperiods by the working piston.

We claim 1.. InV combination with an internal com bust-ion engine embodying fuel admission and exhaust ports, a tubular member. connected to the exhaust port for the discharge of the exhaust gases from the engine therethrough and, having escape means to allow the gases while above atmospheric pressure to escape from said'member to the atmosphere but relieving the remaining products-of combus tion in said member at or below atmospheric pressurev of back pressure from the .atmosphere, thereby causing the exhaust gases discharged into said member to create a vacuum therein which willinduct a fuel into the engine through the fuel admission port, and means'for controlling the operationof said escape means and thus governing the degree of vacuum acting on the fuel admission port.

2. In combination with an. internal combustionenglne embodying a1r,'fuel admisslon and exhaust ports, a'tubular member conv .into said member to create a vacuumtherein' which,willsuccessively induct first a current of air and -then a fuel into the engine throu h said air and fuel admissionports respective y,

.and means for controlling the operation of said escape means and thereby governing the degree of vacuum acting on theair and fuel' f admission ports. A

3. In combination withran internalcombustion engine, a device connected'to recelve products of combustion exhausted'therefromI and operative to `produce, a vacuum in suchv products of combustion, and an escape valve at the outlet of said device embodying a viv bratory valve member arranged to open under the influence .of pressure at said outlet, and

means for regulating the amplitude of vibratory movement of the valve member.

In testimony whereof we have hereuntoset/ l our hands.y

HENRY RICHARDSON.

ANTON HOLM. 

